Helena, Clytemnestra, Penelope, Medea and Cassandra. Wives and partners of classical heroes. While their male counterparts were heads of states, led nations and wars, and collected laurels of victory, these women were silently standing by their side, waiting for their chance to shine. Today, they meet in an agon, a classical contest to determine which one of them will gain the ultimate prize, an olive branch and perhaps even the heart of Hercules, the greatest of heroes.

Who are these women Homer wrote so little about and mythologists only dedicated a few lines to? Wives, mistresses, mothers, daughters, sisters, servants but also oracles, witches, seductresses, murderesses or “tradwives”. Idealized archetypes or three-dimensional beings with their own opinions, desires, feelings and problems?

A classical tragedy becomes a reality show. Why did they sign up for Agony, what are they fighting for and what do they expect from victory? How much have these heroines in common with today’s Helenas, Clytemnestras, Penelopes, Medeas and Cassandras? A struggle for power and visibility, for a voice and a rose, or a desperate struggle for sovereignty? But isn’t Agony just a trap set by patriarchy? A woman’s life as an emancipatory race to escape the myth of gender.

The production is created in direct collaboration with members of the HaDivadlo theatre company with the use of the “devised theatre” method. It draws on Greek mythology based on Robert Graves, various forms of literary reinterpretations of myths, and a book of essays by Šárka Homfray and Michaela Karásek Čejková Proč jsme tak (na)štvané (Wo-men, 2022).

Season 50: Horizons